Mystery of the Domed Mountain
by Moonlight97
Summary: The strange mountain on the edge of the Mushroom Kingdom may have been the cause of the citizens, including princess Peach, to disappear. Mario takes upon himself to climb the steep cliffs of no-return to rescue them, but when he finds a green-clad hero there too, they have to work together to save their friends. A fun One-shot. Based on 180 Writing Prompt 13: "Behind the Cloud".


** Disclaimer: I don't own anything Mario or Zelda.**

Mario looked up at the giant mountain and knew he was at the right one, for the never moving cloud layer rested on the smooth top. The giant mountain was more like a single dome. It didn't look natural and he knew that something just wasn't right with the place. The mysterious dome was in the middle of nowhere a few miles from the Mushroom Kingdom's border. Reports say that whoever came too close or wished to explore the top would disappear, never to be seen again.

Including Mario's beloved princess, Peach.

After many people have gone missing, Princess Peach herself led some troops to investigate, and all of them never came back. Mario would have liked to have been there, but he was out of town then… But he was here now, and once again, he will save her!

He jumped onto a nearby ledge and pulled himself up to the first step of the mountain. He thought that it would be a long way up, for there were goombas, koopas, and kameks to slow him down. But there were also a few items to help him on the way, especially when he found a tanooki that helped him to fly some distance up the mysterious dome.

It took Mario hours to finally reach the top, and when he did, the cloud continued to linger in the air, limiting his vision. Mario was astounded to see that the surface of this dome was a large and thick jungle! Trees stretched far up and green vines dangled near the moist bushes and blades of grass. What was keeping the people here? He wandered, surely there was much more to be seen?

He took a step forward, the unhealthy plants quickly being crushed by his boot. There were plenty of insects that swarmed in the place, happy to be in the heavy fog. Mario kept walking until he could walk no more. The plants may have been unhealthy, but they grouped together and soon blocked his way. Just standing near the bushes as possible, Mario's eyes widened and his jaw dropped to the ground when he noticed, through the cloud, a silhouette of some sort of building ahead!

Was that the cause of the disappearances? Either way, Mario knew he had to get closer. He followed the wall of plants to find another way in.

He walked calmly and with incredible confidence until the plants curved into a dead end… Was there any way to reach the building? He had a feeling that the dead end wasn't there for nothing, for whenever he thought he reached the end, Mario would find a clever way of exposing a secret passage or door. He brought his white glove up to his chin and pondered.

All of a sudden Mario realized that the sound of the insects went quiet… Too quiet… Soon followed a deep rumbling growl instead, and it sounded like it was coming closer. Mario turned and watched for whatever was behind the sound.

Whatever it was, it had little trouble moving about the plants, and trampled over a lot of the bushes that forced Mario to walk a different direction. But the sound soon passed and the sound of a thousand bugs resumed their call. Mario shrugged and continued his search. It didn't take him long to realize the lonely tree stump on the jungle floor, and uncovered it. With a single ground-pound the bushes that curved into a dead-end swung back, allowing him to continue.

But there soon came another sound as Mario walked on. Someone was hacking at plants with a sword. Mario jumped back, but grew curious and slowly tip-toed forward.

Link grew frustrated quickly with the thick lined up bushes and was so focused on trying to move forward to the blocked building, that he didn't see or hear Mario coming.

"Hello?" Mario asked, and the green-clad hero jumped around to face him, sword in hand.

"Wh-who are you?" Link asked the plumber.

"It's a-Mario. What are you doing here?" Mario replied, holding his hands up to show he's not a threat.

"Mario?" Link lowered the Master Sword and sighed. "Were you one of the prisoners?"

Mario quickly shook his head.

"Then I think we have a mutual reason for being here. I'm here to investigate the strange disappearances. Perhaps we can work together, name's Link."

Mario nodded. "It would be better that way. Tell me, do you know how to reach that place?"

Link followed Mario's pointing finger to the hidden, unreachable, building. "Unfortunely, no, I have been trying to reach it myself, but these plants refuse to budge! We have to find a different way there." Link's face narrowed as he glared at the unpassable plants. "I even tried Din's fire, but this weird fog quickly puts it out…" He said, mostly to himself.

Mario then beckoned Link to follow him and left through the only way they could go, through some vines. They walked aimlessly for a long while, and would have continued, but they soon came to yet another dead-end. "This place is more like a maze than a jungle!" Link complained and Mario turned and began walking the other way, but Link grabbed his arm. "Wait," Link said and he looked up one of the nearby trees. "Just what I thought, that up there is a target for my hookshot!"

Mario stared at the curious target and Link reached for the hookshot. He took aim, and released it, the chain shot out of the tool and flew towards the target, but it wasn't long enough. "I can't reach it! I need to get closer somehow!"

Mario nodded and walked a few steps away. "Where are you going?" Link asked, and Mario responded for him to wait, and move out of the way.

Link did as he was told and it was a good thing too, for Mario had just found a question block, and when he hit it, the block vanished and was replaced by a giant cannon. Mario stood behind it and fired! A gigantic bullet bill flew out of the cannon and kept soaring through all of the plants ahead.

Now that the way was clear, Link ran ahead and managed to hookshot up to the tree. He grabbed onto the branch and ran along it until he found a lever. Link reached out and pulled it. Both of the heroes jumped when all of the bushes blocking the passage to the tall, silhouetted, palace caught aflame, all at once and with such power, the plants were wilted before the fog could put it out.

But that wasn't ignored by the deep-voiced beast. He finally saw that there were intruders in his home, and they were ruining his property.

It didn't take long for the heroes to spot the huge, earthy monster charging forward them. It was mostly built out of dirt and stone, and ran like it was none the wiser.

Mario and Link, having been familiar with such beasts many times in their journeys, prepared for the attack. Mario waited to see what the creature will plan on doing, and Link jumped from the tree, unsheathed his sword, and stood next to the plumber. The beast howled and threw his fist into the ground. The heroes quickly jumped out of the way. Link pulled out his bow and reached for an arrow, notched it in place, and took aim.

Mario did his part by keeping the beast distracted, which was not a hard task. He taunted the monster and waiting for the thing to strike the ground again, and when he did, Mario quickly grabbed onto the hand, ran up the arm, and jumped onto the shoulder. The beast roared louder and tried to shake the tiny man off, but Mario wouldn't let go. He ran up to the top of the earthy head and slammed down with a ground-pound.

The monster yelled and finally managed to send Mario screaming as he flew through the air, and landed in the midst of thick plants with an astounding "oof," and "Mama mia!" Then, Link released the arrow and the missile sang through the air before landing right into the head, but if it affected him, he didn't show it. Link quickly gave up with the bow and ran to meet the beast with his trusty sword.

Mario was back up now and was rushing to help Link.

After a few dodges from the monster's feet, Link finally struck the leg with his blade, but it only chipped a few pieces of dirt, and without hesitation, the beast kicked Link away and prepared to crush him, but Mario quickly jumped to Link's aid and angered the monster into attacking him instead.

Link stood up and stared helplessly at the monster. Nothing he has done has harmed it. What could he do? Link watched Mario's struggle with the monster until an idea suddenly popped in his head. Of course, he thought, the beast was made up of dirt and earth! If he played the song of storms, then the monster would be slushed by the rain.

Link brought the ocarina of time to his lips and played the song. Both Mario and the earth monster stopped their fight and looked up to the sky which began to storm. First there was just thunder, but that thunder was quickly followed by a downpour of rain.

Just like Link predicted, the monster rapidly became soaked and shrank in size when most of him began to turn to mud. Mario then had no problem getting back to its head and finishing it with one last ground-pound.

The monster's deep growl was drowned out when it completely fell silently in its puddle. The heroes stared down at the mud in triumph, and the monster's curse on the mountain vanished, and the fog slowly vanished, the sun finally being able to shine down on the sick trees and plants.

The heroes nodded to each other and looked over to the building they were trying to reach. The palace was now fully exposed and shown a beautiful white, and the water gleamed against the sun, making it even more pretty. Without a further delay, Link and Mario ran towards the palace.

All of the prisoners were there, and all of their faces lit up in happiness when the saw their rescuers.

"Oh, Mario!" Princess Peach cried and ran up to her hero, giving a kiss on his cheek. All of the citizens and toads ran to join him, and Link walked past them to greet his own friend.

"Zelda," Link greeted the princess of Hyrule. "I'm so glad you're safe."

Zelda wrapped her arms tight around her hero. "I'm glad to see you too, Link."

"We should go, it's a long way back home." Link said walking back to the entrance of the palace. "Hey, Mario," Link said as he came closer. "Thank you for saving me back there. You are a good fighter."

"Thank you a-very much!" Mario smiled and extended his had in friendship. Link took the handshake and for a moment, the two of them exchanged a competitive glare.

"I hope to see you again, friend. " Link stated and nodded his consents before leaving with the princess Zelda.

The rest soon returned to their Mushroom Kingdom and would always remember the mysterious mountain where the two heroes were not only able to expose the foggy jungle's secrets, but were able to work together to save their friends.

**Author's note: I hope you enjoyed reading this! This was my third 180 Writing Prompt from Tumblr challenge and is based on question 13: "Behind the Cloud". **


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